1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connectable-as-stacked (will be referred to as "stack-connectable" hereafter) ultrasound probe, a plurality of which can be connected to at least a probe connector of an ultrasound imaging system, an ultrasound imaging system and a diagnostic sonography system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently a variety of advanced ultrasound imaging systems has been proposed, and they are widely used in the clinical fields such as in the study of circulatory organs, internal medicine, examination of obstetric and gynecologic regions, etc. As the ultrasound imaging system has become a prevailing diagnostic tool in the clinical fields, various types of ultrasound probes different in frequency and shape from one another and adapted to meet clinical requirements have been proposed for use. In some clinical fields, the same region of interest has to be examined by using a variety of ultrasound probes. To this end, an ultrasound imaging system is required to which a plurality of ultrasound probes can be connected simultaneously.
FIG. 22 shows the construction of a conventional ultrasound imaging system indicated generally with a reference numeral 1. In the Figure, the reference numerals 1a and 1b indicate connectors, respectively, to which the connectors of ultrasound probes are to be connected. The numerals 2a and 2b indicate select switches, respectively, either of which is used to select the connector 1a or 1b to which an ultrasound probe 7 the operator is going to use is connected. The reference numeral 3 indicates a transmission circuit that generates and supplies an electric signal that will drive an electroacoustic or ultrasound transducer provided in the ultrasound probe. An ultrasound is transmitted from the probe 7 and directed into the body of an examinee. The ultrasound is reflected there and returned to the probe 7. The numeral 4 indicates a reception circuit that amplifies a received electric signal derived from the conversion by the electroacoustic transducer of the reflected ultrasound or echo from inside the examinee's body. The reference numeral 5 indicates a probe information interface that reads the information indicative of the type of ultrasound probe 7 connected to the ultrasound imaging system 1. The numeral 6 indicates a thermal monitoring circuit having a thermistor that detects the temperature inside the ultrasound probe 7. The thermal monitoring circuit 6 comprises thermosensors 6a and 6b and thermosensor select switches 6c and 6d, for each of the ultrasound probes 7.
The ultrasound probe 7 comprises a connector that is to be connected to the connector 1a or 1b of the ultrasound imaging system 1, a group of electroacoustic transducers 7b that generate ultrasound, a thermistor 7c that detects the temperature of the ultrasound probe 7, and a probe information coder 7d that encodes and holds the information indicative of the type of the ultrasound probe 7.
In the above-mentioned arrangement, since connection of the connector 7a of the ultrasound probe 7 to either the connector 1a or 1b of the ultrasound imaging system 1 completes the connection between the connectors 7a and 1a or 1b, only one ultrasound probe 7 can be connected to one connector 1a or 1b. Under these circumstances, the ultrasound imaging system 1 is provided with a plurality of connecting devices (connectors 1a, 1b) to each of which one ultrasound probe 7 is connectable. A desired ultrasound probe is selected for use in a clinical study by operating one of the corresponding select switches 2a and 2b provided on the ultrasound imaging system 1.
In this case, the number of connecting devices that can be provided on one ultrasound imaging system 1 is the upper limit of the number of ultrasound probes 7 simultaneously connectable to one ultrasound imaging system 1.
In the above-mentioned prior art, at a clinical site, a greater number of ultrasound probes 7 are used than the number of connecting devices equipped on an ultrasound imaging system 1 and if it is necessary to use a probe 7 not currently connected to the ultrasound imaging system 1, one of the already connected probes 7 have to be disconnected from the scanner 1 and the necessary probe 7 must be connected to the scanner 1 in place of the disconnected probe, which is very annoying and troublesome to the operator or doctor working in an ultrasound study. Note that, the term "ultrasound" used in the present invention can be alternatively replaced by "ultrasonic", if necessary.